Be Where You Are

Fall wedding season is upon us and that means that many of you have your weddings coming up soon! And that means that you could probably use a little pep talk - am I right?

I've been planning weddings over a decade now and while that pales in comparison to the careers of some of my mentors and other who inspire me, it is long enough to have a lot of real life experience in the trenches under my bedazzled belt. Well, all of this experience would be for nought if I didn't have YOU to share it with!

I hope that these little gems that I provide here and there can help you to relax a bit more, enjoy a lot more, and most importantly, to be in the moment. One of my favorite sayings is "Be where you are". It's so simple, yet something that we all forget to remember and struggle to achieve. If you can be where you are, at your wedding, you will undoubtedly have a time to remember. In order to do this, you have to remember one of the other great phrases of all time: "Don't Sweat The Small Stuff". And even more important to remember, it's all small stuff.

So, here goes - my fall "play list" for how to get the most out of your wedding day:

• Wear your shoes around the house every evening for at least a week before your wedding day...you'll thank me, and so will your feet.
• If you don't have a planner, make sure you double and triple check your transportation plans. These are so often the plans that get lost in the mix and most often are the plans that go wrong. Assign a friend or family member to be in charge of the transportation on your wedding day. Have them get the names and cell phone number for the drivers. (For what it's worth, transportation details alone are a fabulous reason to hire a "day of" coordinator!).
• Remember that if you absolutely hate calla lilies and one accidentally makes it into your bridal bouquet, that it's not the end of the world, your bouquet is still gorgeous, and your mascara will run if you start to cry.
• Do your best to drink a glass of water in between cocktails at the rehearsal dinner. The stress and emotion of your wedding day is enough to handle sober and with a good night's sleep - a hangover can help to turn mole hills into mountains.
• Be sure you get ALL of the power requirements for the band, DJ, generator, and anything else that requires power at your venue, ahead of time. An impromptu power outage can really put a damper on things.
• Outdoor ceremonies and receptions: Rain plan, rain plan, rain plan.
• Weight gain: Spanx, Spanx, Spanx.
• After your father (or other family member) makes the welcome toast, do not let him/her release the microphone for open toasting. It's inappropriate to do this at the start of the night (or at the wedding in general - that's what the rehearsal dinner is for), and can really hold up the service of the meal - not matter whether a sit down, buffet, or stations. Nobody wants a flustered catering staff and starving guests eating cold petite filet.
• Have someone bring your overnight bags to the hotel early in the day. You don't want to wind up at the hotel with nothing to wear the next day except a day-old tuxedo and wedding dress!
• Making a Do Not Play list for the band or DJ is just as important as a Must Play list.
• Remind family members ahead of time if they are to remain at the ceremony spot for photos after the ceremony. This saves a lot of time and running around trying to gather people for formal photos, which in turn means more time for you to enjoy the cocktail hour!
• For the love of you-know-who, do not smash cake in your darling's face. This is your wedding, not a scene from Meatballs.
• When all else fails, and if everything does fail, SMILE. You know what I always say: the only thing that people will remember is a stressed out bride.

XOXO,

grace

P.S. Thanks to Shane Snider for the gorgeous photo of Whitney and Ben.